More than 6000 premises in Timaru, including homes, businesses, schools and medical facilities, will be connected to fibre by July next year, rising to 11,000 when the town’s network build is completed in March 2015, according to ICT Minister Amy Adams.

That will make the South Island town one of the first in the country to experience a fully functional Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) network.

Chorus kicked off its Timaru build this week in the suburb of Highfield, with both Adams and Chorus general manager of network build, Chris Dhyberg, in attendance.

"Today we’ve taken the first step towards Timaru’s fibre future,” Dhyberg says, "and we’re eager to work with partners, local council and community groups to extend our network to even more suburbs in the coming year.”

A total of 15 schools have been included in the build, all of which have been prioritised to be in the first stage.

"UFB will revolutionise the way many Timaru businesses, schools and healthcare providers operate,” Adams says.

"The barriers of distance and time will be almost completely removed by UFB, opening up new and exciting opportunities for Timaru.”

Image: Google Earth.